It's HOOTIE Time!

ETA: Here is a fun question from Rachel...have you ever tried to make these into penguins?

Rachel, thank you for your comment and question! I have to say, I've never tried a penguin but not you've got my head spinning. I imagine if I were to try it, I'd simply change out the brown cs for black, do the bright eye background in bright orange and the rest of the eye would stay the same...voila, you've got yourself a penguin! I'm wondering though, do you think the penguin would be ok with the flower in the corner too? I'm certainly going to try this now ;)


I think I'm really starting to love 'themed' weekly posts. Having themes certainly has made it easier to blog, plus it gives me the opportunity to create oodles of fun projects while having out one stamp set or a few punches. Today I'm sharing some chocolate owl goodies that I used for a recent SU! class I hosted here at the house. This is a super easy and inexpensive gift to give, whether it be for a class or for the the kids. I've seen quite a bit of clip art with owl faces and that's where my inspiration came from to create these little guys. I wanted to use BRIGHT color behind the eyes and flowers so I just miss-matched all the colors. The eyes are punched with my CM circle punches. The nose is also a CM punch...the smallest square...and turned sideways(diamond shaped). Once I had all the eyes assembled, it still looked a little plain for me so I added the rhinestone flowers. The cello bags are 3x3 and can be found at any crafting store...these were from my sweet friend Donnak! The 3x3 size holds 4 Dove chocolate snugly. More fun filled owl posts will be up this week...cards and owl embellishments. I've made up a few extra sheets that you will be able to pick up in my Etsy shop to create your very own!

Dashing Through The Snow...

Yeah, it's not quite feeling like 'snow' around here today. Temps are over 100 with the heat index, but since this is our first day in HOT weather, I won't complain too much. We are not suffering here as is most of U.S. right now. NC has been hovering in the high 80's the last few weeks and it's been blissful...I knew it wouldn't last forever.

In the meantime, I've got a set of fun cards to 'cool' you down a bit. This is the first time I've used my reindeer stamp(SU!). I bought him at the end of last season so he's been sitting around, collecting dust etc. Anyhoo, I mixed my reindeer with some Papertrey Ink(ribbon tails, polka dot basics, and woodgrain) sets and SU! new cherry cobbler ink...which is super close, if not the twin, to cranberry crisp. The reindeer is gold embossed and accented with twin stars that I stuck together with a rustic copper brad. I'm off to finish the mess of owls I've created in my craft room. I got carried away last night, but have a lot to show for it ;).

Washi With A Little Ginge-y...

Today I've got a set of cards using the Washi Tape again. If you missed the tutorial on using Washi Tape, just scroll down to my previous post for some easy-to-follow tips. I used the same stamp sets, Signature Christmas and Holiday Button Bits. I loved this patterned tape and thought it felt just like a gingerbread house so I decided to cover my entire vanilla card stock. I outlined ginge-y in Copper Stickles and filled the frosting lines with Liquid Pearls(puffy paint, but better!). She looks DELISH!This card follows the exact tape layout I did in my tutorial. I left the gaps open so I could add the candy cane twine. Make sure if your using twine that you pull it taunt when taping on the backside...otherwise is stays loose and your twine will sag.Stay tuned this week for more Christmas goodies! Happy crafting!

Washi Tape Tutorial...

So if you've been on the FB page you know I've been drooling over this fun new product(Washi Tape) I've been experimenting with. Now, I will tell you, it really is not a new trend or fad, as a matter of fact I remember seeing this as a kid when I lived in Hawaii(some 20 years ago). In Hawaii this tape is known by Kawaii Tape. It's essentially the same thing, thin rice paper tape, but the Kawaii versions have cartoon characters like Hello Kitty etc. There are lots of places to buy Washi Tape and the collection I'm sharing with you today is from Etsy. Today's post is going to focus on the Christmas stack on the left. Let's get started! I decided to make my own background pattern so I used my CM self healing mat to keep my line positions straight. The tape is not super sticky, so if you need to reposition, just don't press down hard your first try...don't ask me how I know that!Next, you can trim off the excess if you'd like, but I chose to simply tuck behind onto the backside of the card stock.I mixed two patterns for two separate cards.Voila! See how pretty your background comes out? I didn't want to cover up too much of the pretty tape(Washi Tape is fun to play with, but it doesn't come cheap!), so a few textured 'holly' leaves and some red Dew Drops finished my focal image.I was needing a little more depth and texture to my leaves so I traced around the edges with my Copper Stickles.On these cards I only used 1 green strip of Washi Tape(underneath the red ribbon) as an accent.The stamp set is Holiday Button Bits. My cards are on a smaller scale than A2, so I chose to substitute buttons with Dew Drops...sparkly! Next post will share some more Washi Tape designs with some yummy gingerbread! Although I've used this tape for holiday cards, I'm almost certain the tape would also make fun monogrammed cards?! ;) I just might have to play with some of those too!

Pretty Bird, Pretty Bird...

I've been busy doing lots of fun stamping projects and I hadn't realized as I was posting this card today, but there is absolutely NO stamping here! I had to double check to make sure! The bird and thank-you font are all one piece on the pink striped chipboard. I found a small 4x6 sheet of Lost & Found chipboard embellishments during my last venture to Scrapdoodles in Fredricksburg, VA! If you've never been there and live close, you NEED to swing by! This store blows all the big box stores away when it comes to paper crafting. I live 5 hours from there, but it's on my way to my in-laws...makes the last hour of travel totally worth it ;) . The glitter comes with it too! I really like this glitter because it's almost identical to the german glass glitter...has a nice vintage glimmer in the light. I added a few extra embellishments and the scalloped border to finish my design.This is the sweet little packet I pulled my patterned paper from. The lilybeedesign pack is available from Archiver's.

Flutter Butterflies...

Thank you ladies for your kind comments on my last post! It always amazes me where inspiration can be found and as many times as I tell myself 'I'm totally going to try that', the thought slips and I'm stuck in a funk again...I know you all can relate! I will keep browsing the magazine isle and see what strikes my fancy! If you've got a cool link or something neat for a card challange, post it here on the blog(comment section) and we can all play along!

Today I've got some more mini card sets to share here on the blog. This first set is all Papertrey Ink sets with SU! colors, pear pizzaz and concord crush. I love the deep shades of purple and blue that jump out in the concord crush...the pear pizzaz cools the deep colors down a bit. The main image is the new Mehndi set and I used the smaller Mehndi designs for accents on the left. The sweet little butterfly was purchased from a friend who does hairbows and I've been holding onto them for 'just the right' project! A fun mix of PTI and SU! here. The woodgrain(in pear pizzaz) is from PTI as well as sentiment. The flowers are from SU!...I think this set may be from the spring catty? I flipped the design sideways on these two beauties.

If You Give A Girl A Cookie...

...she will be inspired! While I was in Savannah a few weeks ago, there happened to be a cupcake store around the corner from our hotel by the name of 'Gigi's Cupcakes'. My sister(who we call "gigi") and I were determined to make a visit there with the kids. We did make it, but it had just closed and that started my mission to find some cupcakes for the night. It turned out to be a mission and we settled for some cupcakes from Fresh Market. They were just ok, but while at the checkout, this Martha Stewart mag caught my eye! I didn't really care what the inside contents were, the 'eye candy' on front was enough for me! Tah dah! Mini note cards. I stamped the large dot stamp first, then added the 2 smaller circles on the side. The center circle is punched out and matted on red cs with a little rhinestone. And then I tried my new Mehndi stamp from PTI. Isn't she lovely? I made some more mini cards with this set that I will show you later in the week.

HAPPY 4th!!!

...courtesy of Little Ms. Firecracker from My Favorite Things!

4th of July Celebrations...

I'm just about to wrap up my vacation here in Atlanta, GA! We also managed to squeeze in a few days to beautiful Savannah. I fell in love with 'her' and not just because Paula Dean calls Savannah home. No chance of visiting her restaurant this time, but we did get a quick snap shot of her eatery. We've got some packing to do before we hit the road and head back to NC. I'm not looking forward to the smokey skies back home as we've been battling a terrible wild fire that is projected to smolder all Summer! I would rather take the Atlanta smog over smokey air any day. Anyhoo, just a quick post on a birthday celebration we threw here this weekend for the July birthdays. My bro-in-law was born on the 4th, niece Kate is on the 8th, and my baby girl, Addy, on the 18th. If you've been following my recent posts, this is another identical banner to a previous one posted. I made a duplicate for my sister to hang on her fireplace hearth and to use for the party. Love these striped bags for party favors! We decided to put 4th of July themed cookies on the inside. The fit and worked perfect! All stamps and rectangle die are from Papertrey Ink. The small metallic stickers on the stars are from a Michael's sticker pack. The finished tag is attached to a close pin to 'seal' the bag. Once I'm home and settled, I will have some fun posts with 'my little firecracker' stamp set. I've already posted a sneak peek on my FB page if you'd like to check her out...fun lil' gal!Happy 4th to you and yours!